Shino Shiratsuki
'''Shino Shiratsuki '''is an alumnae of Asakumi Girls' High School and the main protagonist of Shinohayu Dawn of Age. Appearance As a child Shino has medium length black hair and brown eyes. In high school her hair is longer and she wears the standard Asakumi Girls' uniform. Personality She appears to be a very excitable and enthusiastic girl. However, her mother's disappearance seems to have left a strain on her. Playing Style / Abilities Shino says that while playing, she never holds back and tries to get the most fun she can out of the game. According to Kanna, Shino builds her hand "horizontally". She gets many pinfu and Shanshoko and rarely ever calls tiles. During the last round of the 12th annual Matsue Children's Mahjong Tournament, she focused on speed but admitted Hayari is still the fastest. Plot Introduction Arc Shino is first introduced as a baby playing with mahjong tiles and gripping her uncle's hand. She is then shown as a fourth year elementary student winning a game of mahjong with her friends. After the win, Shino immediately rushes to the grocery store to buy food for her uncles visit. When he arrives, Shino sets up the mahjong table before her mom and uncle join. Shino is then shown winning a hand and having fun playing three player mahjong with her family. A year after her mom disappeared, it is revealed that she has moved in with her uncle and cooks for him every night. Later when Shino lays down for bed, she reminisces about the day she had to say goodbye to her friends and then her mother and begins to cry. The next day she notices the multipurpose room and enters. There she sees a group playing mahjong and wishes to play with them but they refuse. Kanna Ishitobi then says that she doesn't like mahjong but plays it for the challenge. Kanna then tells her that she is entering a tournament to beat Hayari Mizuhara and is preparing for it. Shino then thinks to herself that if she were to enter this tournament, that her mother might come and find her. However when she gets home, she notices that her mahjong set is missing and that her uncle sold them. She then slams the door in his face and begins to cry. While crying, she notices the 1 bamboo tile and carries it with her. In class she notices two boys playing chess with paper and rushes home to create her own mahjong set made from paper. On the day of the Matsue Children's Mahjong Tournament, she wakes up early and is set to go until her uncle reminds her that they agreed to go to a shrine and pray that day. When her uncle stops for something to drink, she notices a mama bird and her offspring and remembers that her mother said she loved the look on Shino's face when she was playing mahjong. Shino then rushes from the car to try and get to the tournament; not wanting to spend money because she needs it for dinner that night. Children's Tournament Arc After rushing to get there, she finally arrives at the playing hall. There she is spotted by Kanna who thinks she is there to cheer her on. When Shino tells her that she intends on playing, Kanna declares her an enemy. Shino then says that she is a friend but suddenly feels faint from running to the tournament and bumps into Hayari. They are soon rushed by adoring fans and then Kanna quicky pulls Shino away. Kanna then begins to worry about her but Shino tells her that she is just tired because of the running. She then says that she wants to play Hayari and that when she plays she goes full force to have as much fun as possible. She then ignores Kanna and signs up for the tournament. Upon learning her placement, she wishes Kanna luck and departs for her matches. In the playing hall, Shino is stunned to see an automatic table and then greets everyone. While playing she then says that this is the first time she's had opponents in months before remembering her mother. Shino then ''tsumo''s everyone for the win. After her win, she thanks everyone for the game and agrees to play the second place girl again. She is then suprised out of nowhere by Kanna coming to congratulate her. Shino then says that mahjong is fun and that she looks forward to playing Kanna. In another game, Shino ''tsumo''s everyone for another win. Shino then makes it to the finals. Upon arriving at the match, she greets Kanna as says that she got lucky. She then says that if she wins this final match, she will get into the papers and maybe her mother will look for her. At the start of the match, Shino was getting very good hands but Hayari rons her for 12,000 pts. She then says that Hayari's hand was so fast and pretty that next time she'll do the same. When Kanna wins, Shino notes that Kanna is dynamic and that all the players were interesting. Later in the game Shino is in fourth place. Kanna, whom is in first, tells her that it isn't fun lose. However Shino tells her that she is having a lot of fun even while being last. Shino then thinks of her mom and continues playing her best. While analyzing her opponents discards, she notices that she can no longer get an ittsuu but draws the bird tile and smiles. After giving up her tenpai, Shino regains it and wins a big hand to take the lead. When the match ends, Shino places third. While talking to Kanna, she says that even though the girl lost she sounds like she had fun. She also tells Hayari that the match they had was a lot of fun. After the match, Shino says that now she will be back to paper tiles again and that third place won't get her into the news. She then runs into her uncle and apologizes. He then tells her that he is sorry and that he is going to support her from now on and gives back her mahjong set. At school Kanna call out for her in the halls and invites her to the multipurpose room. While walking to the multipurpose room, Kanna apologizes for being mean to her. She also tells her that she is now part of the team. Shino then again thinks of her mother and says that if she shines in the national tournament she might get to see her again. While walking home with Kanna, Shino tells her "lets go to the nationals". She is later seen walking with the others to go play at Kanna's house. Idol Arc Before the festival, she tells everyone that she grew out of her yukata and is then lent one by Kyouka. She is then seen ejoying the festival with everyone and then meets Hayari. After Kanna yells at Hayari, Shino tells her that they will visit her concert later. She is seen making a cameo in Hayari's flashback along with her mother. On the way back from the concert she stops by her house to give her uncle some food and tells her uncle about the yukata. She then explains to the girls that her uncle is a writer and a former musician. While heading to the beach with everyone Shino remembers playing at the beach with her mother and says that she forgot how nice it was. Yue's Arc She and the others are walking on a road when they meet Yue Hondou. After the time skip, she once again enters the children's tournament and makes it to the finals along with Kanna, Kyouka, and Hayari. The match goes back and forth until Shino became the last dealer. She then proceeds to focus on winning quickly and finishes the match with a tsumo after a kan to win. After the match she explains to Kanna that if she played like herself, everyone would've kept winning and this time she wanted to win no matter what. Girls of Yumachi Arc The next day Kanna appears and shows Shino the enlarged article from her win and is going to hang it up in the multi-purpose room. While embarrassed, she asks Kanna not to draw a mustache on her picture. In the room she tells Kanna that she is spending the night with Kyouka while her uncle is out of town causing the girl to want to stay as well. After spending the night, she greets her uncle before they get to their house and then cooks for him. Shino then tells her uncle that she is trying to get into Askumi Girls' because she doesn't want to burden him and if that can't happen she'll look for live-in employment. Later she informs her uncle of the class visit and says she didn't tell him about it because she felt like if he went then she would be resigning to the fact her mom is gone. However he goes anyhow, making Shino happy. Afterwards, Kanna tells her that Harue Akado will be participating in the nationals as well. While playing a game in the multi-purpose room, Shino wins a hand and overtakes Kanna. However Kanna fell asleep, so the others decide to also take a nap. At home she looks at her winning medal from the tournament and laments that she still hasn't heard from her mother yet. She then says that she is naïve but she wants to try everything she can and that if winning the regionals aren't enough then she'll win the nationals. However the next day she is disappointed because there isn't enough players. She then tries to peak at Kanna's online game but gets yelled at in the process. Kanna then agrees to let her watch but only if she is completely silent. When Kyouka arrives and says she couldn't find anyone to play, Shino suggest calling Hayari. Hayari then shows and they begin playing. Shino notices that Hayari has gotten a lot stronger since the finals and that her breasts have grown. After being defeated and seeing Hayari off, Kanna tells her that more regional winners have been announced and shows her the news. Shino looks through it and is shocked to find her old friend Rui Suzuki is one of the representatives. She then calls Rui. Kyouka, Kanna, and Shino all head to Hayari's house to play. After the games she helps Hayari with cooking for the group. A little while afterwards Kanna picks Shino up while it was raining prompting her uncle to buy her a bike. Later at the multipurpose, the girls discuss Tanabata and it shows that Shino's wish is to have her mother come back home. After some time, summer holidays role around and the girls decide to head to the beach. While playing they meet Yue once again and go to Aina Moriwaki's house to play some mahjong. The matches aren't shown but Rena says that with the final totals Aina wins. Shino then asks if they are welcome back and Aina tells her that she'll be her sparring partner anytime. At the house, Shino is worried about the typhoon hitting and tells her uncle that she wants to play as much mahjong as she can before the national tournament. As soon as the storm ends, Shino and Kousuke go to the Izumo Grand Shrine and pray. She prays for her mother. Children's National Tournament Arc As they prepare to leave for the tournament, Kousuke asks if anyone will see her off. Shino tells him they already gave her a send off but Kana asked about her flight time. When they arrive in Tokyo, Kana and Kyouka are there to greet them. Kana then says that they are there to support Shino and they are staying at Kyouka's grandparents house and wants Shino to stay there as well. Shino then departs with her friends and Kousuke goes to a work related meeting. The next day opening ceremonies begin and Shino meets Rui. She tells Rui that she is in the last group and can't wait to play her. After Rui's defeat, Shino listens to her friend until her match starts. Shino's first match isn't shown, but she wins the match. Immediately after, she meets her uncle and asks if her match was on television. He tells her that it wasn't and they head to lunch. Her second match is against the person that defeated Rui, Wakana Yonamine. Shino tells herself that she probably won't get fired up about it because she just wants to win. This changes when the last girl shows up and Wakana throws a tile at her. As the match starts, Shino observes Wakana and notices that she uses fear to gain the advantage over her opponents. Shino tells her that she isn't afraid and hits her for a big win. She ends up winning the match and tells herself that she must win as much as she can for her mother to notice her. In the third round of the tournament she plays against Kokoro Oroku, Naoko Tanba, and Chiyoko Takahashi. Before the match Kokoro insults Chiyoko and proposes that the losers have to perform dogeza. Shino then tells her that she cannot go all out if she has to worry about that so they decide that the losers have to buy the winners juice. At the beginning of the match, Shino wins with a riichi tsumo and tries it again but Naoko was able to ron her. When Naoko wins again, Shino says that she is strong but won't lose to her and wins with another tsumo. Later Kokoro ended the match by busting Chiyoko. Shino and Kokoro advance to the next round. Afterwards she meets up with Kousuke but then sees a vending machine. She then delivers juice to Naoko and Chiyoko and thanks them for playing with her. In the fourth round of the tournament she plays again against Kokoro as well as Harue Akado and Sayuna Hoshino. She ends first, Kokoro second, and Harue and Sayuna are eliminated. Category:Characters Category:Asakumi Girls' High School Category:Yumachi Elementary